From Gas Stations to Bees

Welcome to the James Exchange. I am Nancy Gill, your host. It is Monday, August 7.This evening the Scottsville Planning Commission will be meeting at 7:00 pm in Council Chambers on the second floor of Victory Hall. Their agenda appears to be light. However, they are in the process of updating the comprehensive plan so discussions may be lengthy. Lincoln Lewis, a University of Virginia PhD candidate in the Constructed Environment was hired as the Community Planning Fellow for the Town. To date he has started implementing the plan by working with the Planning Commission to develop a survey and community engagement schedule. He has been meeting with Planning Commissioners to flesh out the main ideas in Scottsville’s current comprehensive plan and how it intersects with the strategic plan recently adopted by the Town Council. There is a survey for residents, neighbors and visitors to take. It gets to the aspects of economic growth, housing, and revenue sources. The survey is available online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NQTM68W, paper copies will be available, and it can be completed at the community engagement sessions.The Planning Commission has taken on a rather large task to more or less rewrite the 2023 comprehensive plan. With the assistance of Lincoln Lewis, the newly adopted strategic plan, an enthusiastic and community oriented Town Administrator, and the involvement of our residents and neighbors, Planning for 2043 offers to be a ground-breaking effort for the Town. (For a more detailed read, see my article in the August Scottsville Monthly.)Update on three projects in the Town of Scottsville:Progress on the Tiger Fuel site on James River Road and Valley Street is the most obvious. The storm water runoff system is in place, fuel tanks have been installed, the pad for the Market is underway. During the last couple of weeks, building materials have been delivered, a temporary construction trailer, a storage unit, and security fence and gate have been installed. Concrete should be poured any day now—weather permitting. The permitting process is slow and methodical. Town Council voted in favor of a Special Use Permit for the car wash and drive-up window at their January 10, 2022 meeting. The projected move-in date is January 2024. Upper Bird Street DevelopmentThe permitting process is the stage that Southern Development is on their Upper Bird Street project of thirty-six housing units consisting of thirty single family homes and three duplexes.Town Council approved the Special Use Permit on this project On March 21, 2022. According to Charlie Armstrong:We’ve been making steady progress ever since the Special Use Permit was approved.  There’s no delay on our end.  The engineering approvals from Albemarle, Scottsville, VDOT, and the ACSA take far more time than most people realize.” He is hopeful they can start construction this year with the first house ready ofr occupancy in about a year.Southern purchased the Upper Bird property from the Virginia Land Trust in July of 2022 along with one of the Mink Creek lots. In June of this year, they completed the second of four land transactions with Virginia Land Trust which brings their real estate holding in Scottsville to just under 95 acres. The latest acquisition includes seven Mink Creek lots and the 54 acre lot on Blenheim and Albevanna Spring Roads.This leaves twenty Mink Creek lots, the 90+/- acre lot adjacent to the 54 acres and the Town’s Van Clief Nature area, and the tire plant building with another 40+/- acres.In a previous conversation with a representative